Sparring With The Weather
by Wolfy-chan
Summary: [ROUND THREE] Climate and overall feel can never be predicted with utmost accuracy [KakaIru]
1. Round 1

Rating: PG for now, PG-13 later *...Or R if you crave the actionzorz e.e*  
  
Pairing: Kakashi x Iruka  
  
Breif Descript: Right now, It's just Iruka in need of a sparring partner~ Expect a lot depictive sparring or fight scenes. Light fluff. [NEW EDIT: Changed some grammar and small mistakes~]  
  
Setting : Some are a little confused, so I'm clearing this up in the edit; This setting is just a tiny bit AU. For the non-canon relationship (of course) and the motives of the characters. Iruka in this story is a Chuunin at the age of Seventeen. Kakashi keeps his same background, he is twenty in this story, already resigning his posistion of ANBU back to Jounin for the time being. It may change if the story will it so~ Iruka was deprived of parents from the Kyuubi At age.. -.o eight or six, I believe. Eight in this story. Thank you for asking questions n.n; From now on, review questions will be answered in following chapters. Thank you!  
  
---  
  
Sparring With the Weather  
  
Like any other day, skies seemed open and supple enough to soar through with hands outstretched and lashing. Feet kicking up the dust to touch it briefly before fluttering down to their earthen home once again. Skies that never feigned an unhappy hue through the periodic seasons could always be ruptured as soon as this frame clicks away and forward does a new one spring. So easily can they change from one mask to another, ruining or brightening moods. Weather was fickle like that. Weather was cruel like that.  
  
But not for now. Weather sleeps.  
  
---  
  
His breathing is now bordering fatigue as the newly ranked Chuunin skidded through the dirt, Kunai poised over white knuckles, breath ragged as it came out in wisps of curling heat. He twirled the hilt of the kunai in his hand and flung it in the opposite direction. The brown haired Chuunin spun around and within seconds, surpassed the kunai's speeding velocity to grab it by the hilt again, spun it around on his finger and threw it again. Seconds later he catches up to it and threw it again. Again. Again.  
  
As difficult as it seemed to train by yourself, it actually wasn't. Shinobi knew how to do this well. Iruka knew how to do this well. You just had to have motivation and the urge to keep pressing your training further. If you lacked self motivation, then, well, this might not be an activity you do as profusely. Iruka knew the dance of self training and solitude all too well; waltzing with his sweat as it flew off his face in glinting droplets that defied gravity for mere moments, sparkling over his vision and arms before falling dead to the world. Your moment to shine could be as small as that. As rapis as the perspirant that leaves his body in heavy streams. You don't want to lose it before you even had a chance to gain it. Everybody wants to have purpose.  
  
Iruka is standing on one leg, the same kunai as before is pitched into the air with the toss of his hand and falls back down as if it were the first drop of rain, lightly, but steady. Iruka switches the foot he's standing on with a hop and bends the free one backwards so the bottom of his sandal is raised up straight to the air to catch the kunai tip lightly in the intricate grooves on the bottom. The obsidian sleek weapon stands straight up from it's place in Iruka's sandal, one swift moment of motion and it's let free into the air to be retrieved with a hand and a folding knee that falls down into the grass patched dirt. The Chuunin's audible breathing and chest raptures are now clear; time to stop. Go home.  
  
  
  
He re-sheathes the kunai quickly and makes to move his aching muscles... No dice. Iruka collapses to the grass and dirt, sweat rolling off of his face and sticking to his hair which is in a tight ponytail. He rolls from his side slightly so he can face the colored sky and moving clouds. The sun had mere hours to set and the long streams of white in the sky were at a stand still as the rest of the sky moved around them. Iruka winced his eyes half closed and stared aimlessly at the sky above him. He was in no hurry to try and get up again, just lost in thoughts that he'd rather not think about ; how empty his house was, how full his walls were with what he once had and will never have again. Breathing deeply. How many people actually know his name, how many actually care. Breathing deeply. Who wasn't waiting for him, the shadow blocking his view...  
  
There's a dark shadow over Iruka's view and he's squinting his eyes almost shut to see what it was... He had no energy to place puzzle pieces into pictures so he's left clueless until the figure speaks;  
  
"I've been watching you." The shadow says, his voice is low, quiet, and colorless, "You have a lot of potential. Would you be interested in a sparring partner?"  
  
At the mention of the words 'watching', 'potential', and 'partner', Iruka's eyes widen. He grunts and tries to force his tired body off the ground. The stranger lifts his hand out and the Chuunin gratefully accepts it. "...That would be great..!" Iruka pushes a smile onto his face, despite how his smile is short lived by the pounding of his heaving chest, "Do I get a name..?"  
  
"I'll give you one if you can keep up with me tomorrow. Meet me here at four in the morning."  
  
Iruka was about to protest to the sun masked stranger, but he was gone before he could even get a good look at him. He sighed and dusted off his aching knees before making his way back into town.  
  
---  
  
'He said Four...I'm sure he did.' The bewildered Shinobi looks about his surroundings for signs of anybody coming close to his area. No one. Iruka sighs and puts a hand on his hip. He's been waiting an hour. It was now five in the morning. He yawns and muses; was last evening's encounter just a figment of his imagination? Even though that voice was distant, it was clear... As clear as the kunai that's just about to graze the side of his neck. Iruka elongates his neck and tucks it in to the side of his shoulder, spinning around to be caught at kunai point, his neck locked behind a sturdy arm and a kunai tip just barley centimeters away from his chin, he freezes.  
  
"I'm disappointed." His captive says almost mocking, a shock of silver flashing before Iruka's eyes as he tries to look back,  
  
"Save it." Iruka scowls and slips one of his legs between his captive's and thrusts it forward to send him off balance. This gives the Chuunin enough time to also channel chakra to his legs so he can spring away with force to distance himself a bit more. This seems to have pleased his opponent. He jumps back as well and is now resting on his haunches, hands pooling over his thighs like excess(dead) weight. He's smiling. Iruka on the other hand looks as if he were to puff plummage to display how disgruntled he was. So this was his rendezvous. He looks strange. The brown haired Shinobi didn't have much time to observe as he himself unsheathed what looks like three shuriken. He thows them at his opponent's current position who easily dodges them by jumping upwards. In the wake of the jump and speeding shuriken, a shadow curves up from the three projectiles to reveal two more pieces of metal flying to where Iruka's opponent was trying to dodge. There was an audible click of tongue against the other's teeth as he spun in the air, but not before one of the flying objects razored past his arm and made the slightest impact.  
  
Iruka's opponent lands lightly on his feet, touching a hand to his arm, "Clever!" He seems to be even more pleased, his smile widening. Iruka (who was grinning before) just stares stupidly. He then remembers something and the curve of his mouth rises,   
  
"Do I get a name now...?"  
  
"Aah. Right. Hatake Kakashi. And you?"  
  
The blue sky sparkled. Iruka is behind Kakashi within an instant, his kunai met by another in a strong lock, "Out do me for it." He almost whispers over their small struggle. He then slides off and parries against the weapon again, "I've heard of you..." He starts, swirling around as Kakashi grabs his shoulder, the silver haired shinobi's kunai met with Iruka's near the Chuunin's neck again,  
  
"Kakashi of the Sharingan Eye." Iruka is looking into the depths of that one red eye, close enough to touch it or even gouge it out. He curves his body out of the close capture and into another screeching halt as he's forced against the other weapon, "Closet Case. Open Pervert...You supposedly had a mask..?" He questions through a grunt, trying to fend off the other weapon. Kakashi overpowers Iruka in the struggle and bends the other's weapon holding hand behind the other's back. Iruka gasps,  
  
"It's a bit more personal when the prey sees your face." Kakashi teases, comming so close to the other's ear as he breathes words into it, "They have no stories to tell of my complection if they're dead." Iruka shudders and breaks the contact quickly, looking at the other Shinobi as if he were growing horns and sprouting wings. Kakashi is silent for a moment then laughs. He laughs hard, a sickening sound to be heard after the same tongue had just literally threatened Iruka.  
  
"I'm kidding!" He waves a hand, the same hand to the arm that's bleeding all down his side. "I'd still like a name."  
  
"Umino Iruka."  
  
"Iruka, huh? A pleasure, Iruka-kun." He smirks and looks over at his arm, "My. You caught me off guard. That was great!" Kakashi is smiling as he's pressing a gloved finger over the long slit on his arm. Iruka stirs himself away from his idle and gawking stare to realize what he did,  
  
"Oh..! I am so sorry, Kakashi-san, here. Come with me." Iruka walks over to the other and places a firm hand on the other's back to move him forward. Kakashi made no protest, and followed (was pushed) to a nearby stream of clear water. Iruka protrudes a small white towel from his vest and dips half of it in the stream, "I thought you'd dodge that flawlessly." He says, returning to the other and places the damp edge of his cloth on the bleeding wound. Kakashi neither winced or drew away, instead he continued,  
  
"I didn't think you knew how to read that far into evasive maneuvering." Iruka pulled away for a moment with what looks like a pout. Was this guy already downsizing him just because he looked like he was younger?  
  
"...Then your fault for getting hit."  
  
"...Then why were you appologizing for it ?"  
  
The Chuunin looks as if he were about to slap the guy with his towel, his snide scowel furrowing into his pout. He ignores the question and Kakashi looks by far, amused. After cleaning Kakashi's wound, Iruka wrung the excess pink and clear water from the towel and slides it back somewhere into his vest. He then protrudee several bandages that he wraps around Kakashi's arm and ties (rather tightly) into place around the cut,  
  
"Nice to meet you, Kakashi-kun.." Iruka grumbles and bows his head out of habitual respect. Kakashi's eyes widen and his smile just spreads wider. He replies to the little bow with his hand pushing up Iruka's chin, drawing near and kissing him on the forehead,  
  
"Just Kakashi. Thank you." He grins again as he looks at Iruka's shocked and flushed face, pulling up the pile of cloth around his neck until it covered the half portion of his face. Iruka blinks and Kakashi is gone. He falls to his knees, looking straight ahead of himself, shaking. He clenches his teeth together and balls his fists together tightly before screaming,  
  
"UGH...! That -FREAK-..!"  
  
---  
  
Blah. Sorry for the screw ups. Hopefully most were fixed n_n; 


	2. Round 2

Short descript: Tiny encounter on the streets. A little look into who Iruka is and the insecurities he seems to have. I wanted more fighting, but I couldn't squeeze it in e_e light fluff and PG again~ [EDIT: pre-tense fixings again;; Pardon, bad habit..]  
  
Setting : Some are a little confused, so I'm clearing this up in the edit; This setting is just a tiny bit AU. For the non-canon relationship (of course) and the motives of the characters. Iruka in this story is a Chuunin at the age of Seventeen. Kakashi keeps his same background, he is twenty in this story, already resigning his posistion of ANBU back to Jounin for the time being. It may change if the story will it so~ Iruka was deprived of parents from the Kyuubi At age.. -.o eight or six, I believe. Eight in this story. Thank you for asking questions n.n; From now on, review questions will be answered in following chapters. Thank you!  
  
Round # 2 -  
  
---  
  
The rest of the day is anything but pleasurable for the Chuunin. He was given several basic assignments from the Hokage later that morning (Filing paperwork, running errands...), and that was it. Business was slow today, so most of the minuscule piles of work Sandaime had to offer was for Gennins and several Jounin. As much as Iruka would have liked to take a breather, he's disappointed that he couldn't busy his idle hands. Hands that don't move or craft emit certain energies, people analogous to Iruka are the ones who could appreciate that sort of calm. Not doing anything brought stillness and silence. More of a reminder that 'you are alone' as it chides at your mental depression.  
  
Iruka hates that word. Depressed. What it meant to be depressed. He is a happy person when he has work, when he is out training or busying his hands, getting invited somewhere on a rare occurrence, he seems humble enough to not have problems...But he also was at times a real stupid kid. Not as far as intellect was concerned, he just chose to act that way so people would recognize him a bit more. For a while he was what he liked to think of as 'popular', King of Deviancy and a real jester at that. At first it was for attention, then it became habit and got in the way of what he should have been doing in the first place. People smiled and knew his name for a while, it was a good feeling while it lasted.  
  
That transition point from hooligan to the remembrance of proper decorum was a small one; like a gap between quantized energy; nothing exists between, but travels to the next place quickly, never staying in the middle. In that gap is where some would say Iruka looked depressed, but as soon as it was registered, he seemed humble and at peace with himself and his work. The few who knew him respected that about him; his more mature ability to cope. As one does growing up by themselves, one should learn how to act and behave the same way.  
  
While Iruka was more modest and down-to-earth, he was still a seventeen year old teenager. He still had his mean streaks and haughty behavior, but that's natural for all human beings. One of them is taking place right now; That guy. That weird, arrogant, -perverted- (This flushes Iruka's cheeks as it's thought) , guy! Iruka didn't know what to think about him than to just be angry. It ruined his focus that day and the hours seem to drag on longer than they should. Every time he thought about Kakashi, he had to groan irritably and twitch.  
  
Iruka is currently in the market place; done for the day and walking through the streets of vendors to pick up what he needs back at his apartment. He could be like any normal teenager and just go out to eat every night or spend it all on cavity inducing sweets and junk food, but he is aware of what he needs to eat to keep himself in shape. He is sufficient like that. He'd even buy things he knew he hates eating just because they are good for him, or Iruka could learn how to prepare it differently. He isn't so much of a good cook... More like cook-in-training. Iruka plasters a smile on his face when he buys his produce from the vendors and sticks it briskly into the pouch that's slung over his shoulder...  
  
"You actually eat that stuff?"  
  
The voice catches his attention and made the Chuunin twitch. -Him-. Iruka turns around slowly and looks at his interrogator with a shrewd tinge in his gaze. The other just stares with his one visible eye, the other was hidden under a head protector with an errant flap to its side,  
  
"Carrots improve your eyesight." He says curtly, quirking an uninterested brow up at Kakashi.  
  
"Aah. So I guess tomatoes improve your skin?"  
  
"Baka!" Iruka hisses and tries to hide his face. Why is he embarrassed? The masked Jounin curved his visible eye up and smiled under his mask. It was fun to tease this one. On the contrary, Iruka disliked the attention he is getting from the other and is about to walk away before an arm stretches front of him,  
  
"Woah, woah! I didn't mean to make you angry."  
  
"Hardly...!"  
  
"If you're still mad about yesterday, you don't need to apologize anymore. It was only a cut." Kakashi shrugs and points to his arm. Iruka seethes.  
  
"You...! You had no righ–..Let me pass, Kakashi." Iruka closes his eyes and clenches his teeth, walking into the arm that now firmly held him in place. Iruka snarls audibly, "Let me go..!"  
  
"Not until you tell me why you're so mad at me."  
  
The seems to only make Iruka even more angry as the Chuunin spins around to elbow Kakashi in the gut. Kakashi takes the full blow and is left breathless for a moment as he watches the Chuunin jump on top the canopy of a nearby vendor's cart who yells at him. Seconds later, Kakashi does the same to only himself in turn get yelled at by a not-so-happy vendor and his falling fruit towers.  
  
Jumping like fleas over the rooftops, Iruka jumps down from the last one he touches and makes his way through a crowd by foot. Kakashi is a little more than close in toe as he reaches out to grab one of Iruka's arms only to be met by a weapon and a twirling produce bag. Kakashi has little more than a second to meet the kunai tip with his own before it's thrown at him. People stop what they are doing to stare at the two shinobi or ran to the side so they wouldn't be caught in their moment of fervor. They are at kunai tips until Iruka makes with a round house kick; his bag following his leg's movement as Kakashi blocks with a curled elbow and arm to the side of his back, throwing projectiles at Iruka who bounds away instantly and makes to round the corner. Kakashi jumps on top of the nearby roof and follows the Chuunin at a higher level. The moment they were literally on top of each other, Kakashi jumps down and pins Iruka to the wall. The Chuunin gasps and struggles under the hard grip of Kakashi's hand, his grip grinding the backs of Iruka's shoulders into the wall,  
  
"Let. GO..!" Iruka thrashes. Kakashi pushes down harder and Iruka has to wince,  
  
"You don't just run off like that after an attack and expect to get away, Iruka-kun." His voice is toneless as he looks at the other with a steady gaze, "I'm sorry for whatever I did to you."  
  
"Just let me go..." Iruka grumbles, his voice sinking.   
  
"Not until you tell me what's the matter."  
  
"Let me go...!"  
  
It almost sounds like a plea. Kakashi wants to see his face, but the Chuunin hid it, tethering it low on his neck so several of his bangs spring loose to follow the downward arch. Kakashi's grip softens and eases away. He brings his fabric covered cheek close to the others and repeats,  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
Iruka is shaking, his lips quivering as the other drew close then away. He feels defenseless. Out of all the training he has put his body through, he still got caught so easily and his insecurity around this person only made it harder for him to except that he didn't get away with his own skills. This disgusted Iruka, how this person could easily catch him and try to force things out of him... Even Iruka didn't know why he was so mad in the first place. Kakashi just... Agitated him... And at this point in time, he is scared of Kakashi as well.  
  
Kakashi can't understand why Iruka is so mad at him either. Is it because of the teasing? Is he one so quick to anger? It was just vegetables. Then. Then how scared and almost pleading he is in this situation. He doesn't like that.  
  
"Practice with me later again today. We didn't get enough time this morning. I'm sure that's a better way to escape these emotions." This time his touch is gentle on Iruka's shoulder who still refused to look up. A time is decided somehow in the silence. When the Chuunin is brave enough to look back up, Kakashi is gone again. Iruka sighs and presses his palms into the backs of the wall, closing his eyes and breathing. His body is flushed and his breath shuddered.   
  
Clouds could be seen overhead and out of the way of the roof. They swirl about each other in long streams of white before moving in their circular motion across the sky.  
  
---  
  
This is pretty generic right now, huh 6.6 I'll figure out something to make it a bit more interesting... Hawt guy on guy would work, but it just doesn't happen like that =_= Reviews appreciated~  
  
REVIEW REPLIES: [EDIT]  
  
Sora Sama : -Thank You- =.= That was horrible of me to do. Had to go back and revamp BOTH chapters Because of that irregular tense defiance. Thank you for pointing it out~  
  
Lady Geuna : Right n.n This is after. I put up a setting descript for people now too~  
  
Sausweet : I so agree with you..e.e  
  
Suke-san : Don't be surprised if I do o/` Actually writing something KakaIru that has no smut in it is killing my head *laughs* If there is any, it will clearly be marked and easy to skip over without ruining flow~  
  
Thank you, All! *hearts* 


	3. Round 3

PG-ish, but it has some heavy fluff at the end 6.6 as a forewarning. And while I'm at it, the whole next chapter will have some good KakaIru-ness~  
  
Onward, men! No long stupid intro!  
  
---  
  
"See. When you're jumping at that angle, you leave thirty percent of your right body radius open."  
  
"Oh, really. Then why don't you force chakra flow to the right of your abdomen to push it away quicker?"  
  
"Amateur."  
  
"Who are you calling amateur?!"  
  
"Reversing flow from the left will cause imbalance. You'll faulter as soon as you shift your weight and leave yourself open another twenty percent of the time you could have also used the -same- ammount of chakra on to just execute Kawimiri."  
  
Iruka is silent a moment, furrowing his brow before picking up a stick and drawing a diagram in the dirt. Both are leaning on their haunches with the slightest bit of fatigue in their breath, "Okay. Dissmiss foilage in this area." He sketches a few primative trees and arcs a semi-circle from one of them to an 'X' on the opposite side, "What if you had an assault coming from both above," He draws a line straight up from the X into the air, and a diagonal one jutting out towards the left, "and to the side like this? Would it be possible to execute kawimiri before taking damage?"  
  
"If you're that far away from the tree, it wouldn't be."  
  
"That's what I was -saying-."  
  
"You never said anything about kawimiri."  
  
"I already dissmissed it! Which would you have rather done? Wasting energy on that silly jutsu or just becoming off balance for a moment?"  
  
"Hmm. Good question..." Kakashi steals the stick and points to the assault lines. Iruka watches,  
  
"Assault coming from both those angles would require you to arc your body to the right instead. A flip. If they try to assault again, use the same method until you're close enough to do effective replacment." Iruka pouts.  
  
"You turn my lose-lose into me looking stupid."  
  
"You look cute when you're frustrated."  
  
The Chuunin flushes red and glares at Kakashi who only smiles at him innocently from under his mask, "It's a well thought out argument, Iruka-kun, it's just lacking a bit more strategic maneuvering."  
  
"Who got their arm cut for what, then?"  
  
"I wasn't taking you as serious as I should have been." Iruka opens his mouth to speak, but can't find the words. It was nice to hear praise again. Whenever he heard it from Kakashi, it made his heart flutter. He didn't know why, but it just did. The gray shinobi just tilts his head to the side and grins again before patting Iruka on the shoulder, "Let's try that maneuvering then? I'm sure it will be beneficial."  
  
"Can you mock the occurance correctly?"  
  
"Are you kidding? This is pre-school."  
  
"Kakashi...."  
  
"...Kidding! Kidding!! I jest, c'mon, I know how to do this. Really."  
  
"For your sake, you better."  
  
"Why is that?"  
  
"....Do I need to elaborate?"  
  
"Tempting."  
  
"Masochist..!"  
  
Kakashi laughs and pulls Iruka to his feet by his wrists. Both were avoiding talk from earlier like it never happened. They met later that day and just started sparring. Questions came to mind half way through, so they had to stop and debate with each other about strategic matters like this every half hour or so. Kakashi didn't like the Iruka he saw in they alley way. He looked afraid of him and completely useless. He sees a great fighter in Iruka, but it's going to take some time to mold correctly. "By the way," He adds, the moment they're both on their feet, "What do you do in your spare time besides sparring?"  
  
"..Why...Why so interested?"  
  
"Just curious."  
  
"....I read, Kakashi." Iruka is glaring at Kakashi as if the shinobi was expecting a different, more colorful answer. One he would not oblige to.  
  
"Well, That's great. I love to read too. You should pick up a couple of scrolls from the library I know of sometime. They might help you with different and classic assault and strategic setups and situations.  
  
"I'm interested. Please do."  
  
The picture in the dirt was anything from amateur. Iruka was very smart for his age, almost the same way Kakashi was when he was younger. He transgressed through Shinobi rankings like a knife to butter, but he's still impressed. He knows that Iruka must know all of this already, but wants to see how well he can do it himself.  
  
"Alright." Kakashi poises a kunai and bends his knees, "Show me what you can do."  
  
---  
  
Another two hours later, and the two Shinobi are beat. Iruka couldn't stand on his own without clutching onto the nearby tree, or just sinking to his knees and letting his body weight slump. He sported several minor cuts and many other bruises littered his body. Kakashi only had a few evident bruises, but Iruka knew he was hurting in other places. This brought a grin to his face as he finally did slump to the ground, his hand trailing on the bark, breath escaping in a small groan.  
  
The gray shinobi is still on his feet and making his way over to his sparring partner slowly, "That's... Enough for now. Can you stand?"  
  
Above anything else, Iruka would never let Kakashi carry him home because he was too weak to walk himself. He takes a moment to breathe, then buries his hand deep into the bark of the tree to tries to pull himself up. His knees are shaking and soon buckle together all too willingly as he holds his place on the tree. Iruka is flushing a brilliant shade of red, curving up his eyebrows searching for any chakra he had left in him to aid him in at least -moving-. Kakashi sighs and places a hand on Iruka's shoulder. The Chuunin flinches, but the Jounin does not let that stir him. He motions Iruka to put his arm over his neck for balance, unable to find a better way to argue against it, he complies.  
  
"It's alright. I'll take you home."  
  
"...."  
  
"You did great, Iruka-kun, don't worry!"  
  
"...Kakashi?"  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Just...Iruka." He almost whispers it, finally giving into the help fully and slumping his body weight further on the other. Kakashi wasn't injured enough to protest, rather, he smiled gently and helped the Chuunin back to his apartment. It took them about fifteen minutes to get down the hill and grove to the village, and another fifteen to walk to Iruka's place. How Kakashi knew, he did not ask, but he did let the Jounin fish around his pockets to find the key without Iruka's help. Eventually, Kakashi had a key and was bringing them both into the living room.  
  
"The best treatment for your wounds is to soak them throughly at this point."  
  
"...What about you?"  
  
"I'll be fine. I'll deal with my own later... You have a bathtub, do you not?"  
  
It took a little persuading to get the details out of Iruka, and a lot more to actually get him to take his clothes off. He stumbled and slipped out of the other's grip so many times, Kakashi finally had to say something;  
  
"Oh for Hokage's sake. We're both men. It's not like you don't have anything more than I do." This only made it worse. A little more persuasion and Kakashi has already drawn a warm bath to sink the Chuunin into. The whole time, his hands never left Iruka's shoulders. Iruka was trying to forget anything was going on that given point in time, sinking low into the water and relaxing himself. No perverted weirdo was in your bathroom, you just had a bad day... You just had a–...  
  
The hands at his shoulders were pressing into muscles, rounding them and rubbing them both softly, not deep enough to be rough. It was so heavenly. Iruka sighs content, letting go of his edge completely. Why was Kakashi so nice to him...?  
  
The notion to rub Iruka's shoulders was idle. Mechanical. The comfortable silence even brought the trickling water to a thick silence that wrapped around them both in a warm steam blanket. The silver haired Jounin let his cheek rub up against the side of Iruka's hair in the moment, then he stirrs himself awake with a jolt, the water breaking the silence as Iruka turns around. Kakashi scratches the back of his head, his eye curved up sheepishly and it looked like he was blushing under his facial mask,  
  
"Pardon... Stay in there for a little while longer. I'd best get myself home. Same thing tomorrow morning?"  
  
"...Sure. See you then?"  
  
Kakashi nods and makes his way out of the bathroom backwards, bowing his head down as he closes it slowly. The Jounin's touch lingered on Iruka's shoulders for as long as it should have, Iruka's own hand coming up to touch his shoulder briefly before sinking back into the water. There was something about Kakashi now that Iruka missed before; a gentleness around him when he wasn't kicking Iruka's ass into the dirt, A soft genuine voice when he wasn't mouthing his opinion blatantly (or perversely). Iruka shakes his head furiously and smacks his forehead a few times with the hell of his palm. Ugh! No! -Kakashi-! If he knew Iruka was thinking these things, he would have taken advantage of it for sure. The brown haired shinobi growls at himself and bends over to pick at the drain stopper.   
  
The sun was setting beyond the mountains; casting strokes of color through the sky intertwined with white puffy overlays that spread themselves out like sunning felines. They faded into the rapidly appearing stars overhead that pierced the color and darkening skies into hundreds more luminous sources or light.  
  
  
  
---  
  
Sorry That took so long (and is short again 6.6). Had slumps and what have you; school. Backpack was stolen out from under my nose last weekend so I wasn't very happy either =.= Tiny things have been making it hard to cope, but I have wonderful friends and a wonderful boyfriend to help me through it *snugs them*   
  
Reviews appreciated~ 


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